Peter’s Decibel Island Discs
Picture this: you have been stranded on a desert island and realistically you can expect to be spending the foreseeable future there. All hope is not lost, however, because inexplicably you have eight pieces of music, a book and a luxury item in your possession. All are of little-to-no use in terms of survival, but [...]
Decibel Track of the Day #18 – Wraith by Peace
Officially dubbed 2013′s Next Big Thing by a host of publications/websites/blogs, it is unsurprising that quite a big deal is being made of Peace’s latest release, ‘Wraith’. With its infectiously catchy riffs and chorus, ‘Wraith’ may just be Peace’s strongest offering yet. Given the quality of their debut EP, ‘Delicious’, these are just two reasons [...]
Decibel Track of the Day #17 – Don’t Deny Your Heart by Hot Chip.
The first ‘Track of the Day’ for this week is ‘Don’t Deny Your Heart’ by Hot Chip. ‘Don’t Deny Your Heart’ is the latest single to be taken from the critically-lauded album ‘In Our Heads’, and is accompanied by a video directed by comedian Peter Serafinowicz. A comedian may seem an unusual choice to direct [...]
Track of the Day #16 – Bel Air by Lana Del Rey
It’s become something of a tradition for pop artists to release a hugely successful album and almost-immediately follow it up with an EP (see: Lady Gaga’s ‘The Fame Monster’ and Ke$ha’s ‘Cannibal’). Why some the tracks from these EPs could not have made the cut for an LP released mere months earlier is beyond me, [...]
Track of the Day #15 – Black Chandelier by Biffo Clyro.
Black Chandelier, the first single to be taken from Biffy Clyro’s new album, ‘Opposites’, took roughly 12 seconds to announce the return of what could only be described as ‘Classic’ Biffy Clyro. Gone are the lofty, arena -filling, ‘Diet U2′ pretense of 2009′s ’Only Revolutions’, instead replaced by the unmistakable quirkiness of the band’s earlier [...]
Tom’s Decibel Island Discs
After a brief absence, Decibel Island Discs makes a triumphant return to the Decibel Blog. This week, I will be running through the eight songs, book and luxury items I would want for an imaginary stay on a desert island. 1. Electric Light Orchestra – Mr Blue Sky 2. Tom Petty – Free Fallin’ 3. [...]
Celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week: Decibel’s 10 Favourite Musicians/Entrepreneurs
Successful musicians are thought to have the mindset of entrepreneurs. Some of them have taken this skill to a whole new level, becoming not only entrepreneurial musicians, but also entrepreneurs in their own right. Joining the celebrations for this year’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, Decibel introduces some of our favourite entrepreneurial pursuits by musicians. Bono Besides [...]
Track of the Day #14 – Send Me Down by Haim
Today’s ‘Track Of The Day’ comes from Los Angeles-based band/siblings, Haim. The sister’s work has often been described as a folk-meets-R&B hybrid, and latest release ‘Send Me Down’ is definitely more of the R&B and less of the folk. Regardless, the combination of delicate vocals with brooding, stomping synthesizers make for compelling listening, and you [...]
Decibel Spotify Playlist: ‘Jelena’ Break-Up Songs
Following last week’s news that Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez (I’m still not actually sure who she is) have gone their separate ways after spending roughly the past two years as an item, the Decibel staff have teamed up to produce the quintessential ‘break-up playlist’. And no, it isn’t made up entirely of Adele and [...]
Track Of The Day #13 – Lofticries by Purity Ring
Montreal-based duo Purity Ring have just unveiled the surreal new video for ‘Lofticries’, the latest single off debut album ‘Shrines’. Speaking to Pitchfork, director AG Rojas remarked that ‘Shrines’ is his favourite album of the year. ‘Lofticries’ is without doubt one of the highlights on an album that will feature prominently in many end-of-year lists, [...]
Decibel’s Albums Of The Week
The musical diversity of the Decibel office is on display once more in this week’s ‘Albums of the Week’ feature, with artists ranging from German synthpop band Alphaville to….Robbie Williams (sorry, everyone). The office was asked what albums it had been listening to this week, and this is what it came back with: Georgiana has [...]
Track Of The Day #12 – Stray Heart by Green Day
Today’s track of the day is the latest single from the second part of Green Day’s trilogy of albums, the appropriately-titled ¡Dos! (the first part being ¡Uno!, and the third part, due for release in the new year, being ¡Tre!). ‘Stray Heart’ revisits the sleezy, bluesy garage-rock that was a staple of the band’s time [...]
Music History: Presidential Music
The US Presidential race has understandably been the focal point of international news over the past few weeks, and culminated Tuesday night with the re-election of Barack Obama. Obama’s campaign was supported by a plethora of musicians, ranging from the Foo Fighters – who performed at the Democratic National Convention in September – to Jay-Z, [...]
Track Of The Day #11 – One More Shot by The Rolling Stones
Could it be anything else? Although only the second track in seven years to be released by The Rolling Stones, ‘One More Shot’ proves that – without question – The Stones still have ‘It’. Hot on the heels of ‘Doom And Gloom’, released last month and also set for inclusion on The Stones’ upcoming greatest [...]
Track Of The Day #10 – Peach Blossom by EELS
Today’s Track Of The Day is the brand-new release from EELS. ‘Peach Blossom’ is the first track to be taken from the upcoming album ‘Wonderful, Glorious’, EELS’ first album since E concluded his ‘Hombre Lobo’-’End Times’-’Tomorrow Morning’ trilogy. ‘Peach Blossom’ is heavy with fuzzy bombast, trademark twinkling synthesizers and of course, plenty of references to [...]
Georgiana’s Decibel Island Discs
This week’s ‘Decibel Island Discs’ comes courtesy of research intern/resident-PR guru Georgiana. We asked Georgiana for eight songs, a book and a luxury item to take with her for a stay on a desert island, and this is what she went for: 1. The Beatles – Across the Universe 2. 4 Non Blondes – What’s [...]
Track Of The Day #9 – Inhaler by Foals
Oxfordian quintet Foals are back with their first new material in over two years. ‘Inhaler’ is the material in question, and is the first track to be taken from new album ‘Holy Fire’, due to be released on February 11th 2013. Foals have never been known for resting on their laurels, and if ‘Inhaler’ is [...]
Welcome to Decibel, Karolina (new researcher #2)
The second part of our early Christmas present comes in the form of Karolina, another music research intern. Check out her answers to the newbie Q&A below: Name? Karolina Job Title? Music Researcher Why did you join Decibel? I decided to join the music industry, but didn’t have any musical background. When I found out [...]
Welcome to Decibel, Peter (new researcher #1)
It’s Christmas come early here at the Decibel office as yesterday we were joined by not one, but two new research interns! Peter is first up in our sort-of (but not really) famous, brutally intensive, ‘new staff’ Q&A: Name: Peter Job Title: Music Researcher Why did you join Decibel? To get an insight into the [...]
Track Of The Day #8 – Here We Go by Christopher Owens
The first ‘Track of the Day’ for this week is by ex-’Girls’ frontman-cum-new face of Saint Laurent Paris, Christopher Owens. ‘Here We Go’ is a fragile, sun-kissed Jethro Tull/Nick Drake-influenced ballad, and is the first single to be taken from Owens’ debut solo album, ‘Lysandre’, which is released on January 14th, 2013. Enjoy
Music History: The Mercury Music Prize
Ever since the Mercury Prize nominees were announced on the 12th September, there has been rampant speculation as to who will take home the annual award. Brainy art-indie foursome Alt-J are the bookies’ favourite, with Django Django and Richard Hawley, who claimed he was ‘robbed’ by the Arctic Monkeys in 2006, close behind. Hawley’s remark [...]
Decibel Track of the Day #7 – Unbelievers by Vampire Weekend
The Jimmy Kimmel Show has proved to be a goldmine of sorts for new music recently. Last week’s exclusive by Prince, which was incidentally one of our ‘Tracks of the Day’ last week, has been followed up by the eagerly-anticipated return of New York afro-indie rockers Vampire Weekend. Last night the band unveiled new single [...]
Decibel Spotify Playlist: Halloween
Happy Halloween! To help you celebrate the annual appreciation of all things ‘scary’, we here at Decibel have come up with a spooky/creepy/scary (delete as applicable) playlist for your Halloween party. Not having a Halloween party? Don’t worry, there are enough tunes here that the playlist can be enjoyed all year round. Enjoy.
Staff profile: Tom
As we slowly-but-steadily work our way through the interns, today’s staff profile will be Tom (sometimes known as ‘Tim’), who is also one of our researchers. Tom joined Decibel at the start of October. Name? Tom Job Title? Music Researcher Why did you join Decibel? Liked the idea of working within a tech/music-centric working environment, cool [...]